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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Died on Friday, June 25, 2010, age 91. Jim, also known as Jimmy, was born at home on September 1, 1918, in Anderson, Ind., just northeast of Indianapolis, the only child of James Spurtle Gale and Myrtle Fry. Jim had a happy childhood spending summers at a family summerhouse on the shore of Lake Michigan in Michigan. He graduated from Anderson High School in 1936 and Indiana University at Bloomington in 1941 with a bachelor of science in chemistry. After graduation he worked briefly as a metallurgist until he enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942, participating in the air offensive against Japan in the Western Pacific and serving as an airplane armorer with the 458th Bomb Sqd. of the 20th Air Command, primarily on Guam and attaining the rank of corporal.

After the war Jim pursued graduate studies at the University of Southern California and completed a master's thesis on the geology of the Pacific coastline and was inducted into Sigma XI Honor Society. His subsequent career was as a petroleum landman, researching title to mineral rights and acquiring oil and gas leases primarily in the Sacramento Valley working for among others Texaco, American Petrofina, Del Paso Exploration and finally for locally-based Pacific Energetics. Always active, he never formally retired.

Having outlived all his close relatives and many of his friends he is survived by his honorary niece Rebecca Frame and honorary nephews Tom, Kevin and Eric Frame, who were all honored to have him as their honorary uncle. A unique but jovial character with an acerbic wit, he will be missed by them, coworkers, friends and acquaintances and most especially the gang at Pancake Circus on Broadway, whom he considered his adoptive family.

A brief memorial service will be held at W.F. Gormley & Sons, 2015 Capitol Ave., on Monday, July 5, at 9 a.m. Afterward, friends are invited to congregate at the Pancake Circus, 21st and Broadway to reminisce.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Shriners' Hospital, Sacramento, or Indiana University Scholarship Fund, Bloomington, Ind.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sharon, Jack and I watched The Two Escobars. This is the sixteenth installment of ESPN's 30 for 30 film series.

The title characters are Andrés and Pablo Escobar. Andrés Escobar was the captain and the face of the Columbia National Soccer Team in the early 90's, while Pablo Escobar was an infamous Columbian drug baron. The film looks at their rise to fame, how their lives became intertwined and their demise.

At a time when rival drug cartels warred in the streets and the country’s murder rate climbed to highest in the world, the Colombian national soccer catapulted out of decades of obscurity to become one of the best teams in the world. The film has some great game footage chronicling the team's rise. Colombia was a favorite to win the 1994 World Cup. Just as quickly, everything collapsed.

Columbia's unexpected loss to the USA in the 1994 World Cup is a pivotal event in the film. I was there in the Rose Bowl when Andrés Escobar scored an own goal that cost his country the game.

I was surprised when the film was first shown on ESPN Deportes, the ESPN Spanish Language channel, and then shown on ESPN the following night. It turns out that the footage and the interviews are all in Spanish with English subtitles. At two hours, it is also longer than most of the other 30 for 30 films.

Partially due to my connection to the USA versus Columbia game, I enjoyed the film. I was largely oblivious to the events surrounding that game. Reading subtitles is a much different viewing experience; you have to pay much closer attention than you might otherwise.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Seeded first after pool play on Saturday, the Outlaws were back at the Woodland Sports Park for single elimination play. It was hot. The temperature was more than 100 degrees. On the turf field, the temperature was probably above 115 degrees. I was worried the whole day that the boys were going to fall apart on the field and give up a big inning.

The Outlaws played the Sluggers in the first game of the day. It was an odd day at the plate for Jack; I think that the heat effected him as the day went along.

At the plate, Jack was 0 for 1, hit by a pitch twice and scored two runs. In the bottom of the first with the count 2 and 2, Jack was hit by a pitch. He stole second and third. After Jeremy was hit by pitch, Jeremy continued towards second drawing the throw. Jack raced home to score the first run of the game. Jack hit a grounder to the shortstop on the first pitch of his second plate appearance. He was thrown out at first. In the bottom of the fifth, Jack was hit by the first pitch of his third plate appearance. He went to second on Jeremy's fielder's choice and then scored on Josh's triple.

In the field, Jack played three innings at third base and three innings in left field. He had one put out and one assist. He fielded a grounder at third in the first inning and threw to first for the out. In the fourth, Jack handled a routine fly ball to left.

With solid pitching from Breyton and Jordan, the Outlaws won the game by the score of 6 to 4 and advanced to the championship game of the tournament.

The Outlaws played the Cobras in the championship game. The Outlaws had beaten the Cobras by a score of 7 to 2 on Saturday.

At the plate, Jack was 0 for 1 with a walk. In his first at-bat, Jack walked on five pitches. He stole second and went to third on a ground out. Jack was still at third when the inning ended. In his second plate appearance, Jack hit a 1 and 0 pitch hard back through the pitcher's mound. The pitcher made a nice play on the ball and threw Jack out at first.

Jack played six innings at third base. He had two assists and a put-out. Jack fielded two grounders and made throws to first for the outs. He also had a nice catch on a pop-up behind third base in foul territory for the out. In the top of the fifth, a slow roller was hit to the left side of the infield. Jack fielded the ball and made a throw which Breyton did not handle at first. I charged Jack with the error. Talking about it with Scott, Jack and Breyton at pizza, Scott thinks that I should have charged the error to Breyton.

With the score tied 2 to 2 in the bottom of the fifth, Jake got on base with a wild pitch dropped third strike to lead off the inning. Trevor put down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. Greysen singled down the third base line. Jake went home and Greysen advanced to second on the throw.

I kept worrying that the Outlaws were going to melt down in the heat. In spite of Cobra runners reaching third in each of the last three innings, the Outlaws played solid defense and won the game by a final score of 3 to 2.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Continuing to tune up for the Cal Ripken Northern California State Tournament, the Outlaws played a tournament at the Woodland Sports Complex. The fields at the Woodland Sports Complex are turf and big. My guess is that the fences are set at more than 300 feet; this become significant.

In the first of two games, the Outlaws played the Martinez Bulldogs. The game was supposed to start at 4:20 p.m., but did not get under way until 5:45 p.m. It was hot; the temperatures were in the high 90's.

At the plate, Jack was 2 for 4 with a bunt, an inside the park home run and two RBIs. In his first at-bat, he hit a 0 and 2 pitch to the left side of the infield. The shortstop misplayed the ball and Jack was safe at first on the error. As I have said before, scoring at this age is an adventure. Scoring on turf fields is even more of an adventure. The surface is very fast. When someone like Jack hits a hard grounder with a heavy big barrel bat, there is very little margin for error. The Bulldogs ended up getting charged with five errors in the game. Jack stole second, but ended the inning there. Jack bunted an 0 and 1 pitch down the first base line for a single in his second plate appearance. He went to second and third on passed balls. Trying to score on Jeremy's grounder to the shortstop, Jack was thrown out at home.

In his third at-bat with Cooper on first, Jack drove the first pitch deep into the gap in right center. As soon as it was in the air, one of the parents sitting next to me said "that's a home run." Slicing slightly, the ball scooted all the way to the fence on the artificial turf. The right fielder broke hard towards the ball and was completely out of position and moving in the wrong direction when the ball landed and sliced around behind him to the fence. Jack never stopped moving and crossed the plate standing up.

Jack hit the first pitch up the third base line in his fourth plate appearance. He was thrown out at first on a very close play. Jack tried to dive for the bag rather than run through it. I think that he would have been safe if he had ran through the bag.

In the field, Jack played five innings at third and one inning at first. He had two put-outs and an assist. In the third inning, Jack fielded a grounder at third and made a great throw to Jermey at home to get a runner trying to score. In the fourth inning, Jack fielded a grounder at third and made the throw to first for the out. Cooper made a fantastic stop diving to left to save one or two runs in the fifth innings and then threw to Jack at first for the third out of the inning.

With their pitchers struggling to throw strikes, the Outlaws gave up three runs in the top of the sixth, but managed to hold on and win by the score of 8 to 7.

In the second game of the day, the Outlaws played the Continental Cobras. Originally scheduled to start at 6:20 p.m., the game did not started until almost 8:00 p.m.

At the plate, Jack walked three times and had one run scored. In his first at-bat, Jack walked on six pitches. He stole second, but was then thrown out trying to steal third. Jack walked on four pitches in his second plate appearance. He scored from first on an error on Jeremy's grounder to short. In his third at-bat, Jack walked on five pitches. He was thrown out stealing second with Niko going home to score from third on the throw.

In the field, Jack played four innings at third base, but never handled the ball.

Combining 4 1/3 solid innings from Josh with some timely defense, the Outlaws won by a score of 7 to 2. It was after 10 p.m. by the time the game was over. The Outlaws ended up being seeded first after the pool play and will play in the semi-final game at 2:20 p.m. on Sunday.

The "Rockville House" site was located on the Northwest corner of Rockville an Suisun Valley Roads. This was a settlement and stage stop along the road between Sacramento and Benicia. Located here was a hotel, a blacksmith's shop and a few stores. The use of stone to construct buildings and walls in this area was an attractive feature.

The Pony Express first used this new route on April 23, 1860. The rider left from Vacaville, rode southwest and then south to Fairfield. He left Fairfield going west on the Rockville Road for a last relay stop at the "Rockville House" and a fresh horse. He left for Benicia around 5:20 am. heading south. He could see Mt. Diablo rising above the southern horizon in the early morning sunlight.

Analysis: For a second straight year, I think the Kings had a terrific draft.

Some GMs believe Cousins has more talent than anyone else in the draft. And as a No. 5 pick, it would be hard to find a better value. If Cousins can overcome the maturity issues he displayed at Kentucky, he could be a monster contributor, scoring in a variety of ways, rebounding and providing tough, physical defense in the paint. Guys with his ability don't come along every day.

Whiteside is very intriguing as a second-round pick. He's a long, lanky shot-blocker who, in his best moments, reminds me a bit of Marcus Camby. In his worst moments, he's more like Patrick O'Bryant. As a lottery pick, he would have been a huge risk, but as a second-rounder, he's all upside.

Cousins has the talent to be one of the two or three best players in the draft. Obviously there are questions about his maturity. If he puts in the work, he could be a dominant center in the pros. If he dogs it, he's still probably a productive player a la Derrick Coleman. Great pick for the Kings. For the second straight year, they may have the rookie of the year.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Continuing to get ready for the Northern California Cal Ripken tournament in early July, the Laguna Youth Baseball 11U All Stars played a scrimmage with the Lodi 11U All Stars. The Lodi team will play in the Central California Cal Ripken tournament.

At the plate, Jack continues to hit the ball well. He was 4 for 5 with a double, a RBI and 4 runs scored. Three of his base hits were hard grounders through the left side of the infield, while one was a double over center fielder's head to the fence. Coming up to bat for the last time in the bottom of the sixth, Jack persuaded the coach to let him bat left handed. He ran the count to 3 and 2 and hit a grounder to the right side of the infield for an out.

In the field, Jack played four innings at third and pitched an inning of the six inning scrimmage. At third, He had three put-outs and an assist. He handled a routine two hopper and threw the runner out at first for the assist. Jack caught a pop-up on the third baseline for a put-out. He also tagged out two runners: one trying to steal third on a throw from Jake and another when James threw behind the runner leading off third.

Jack pitched the fifth inning and gave up one unearned run. He has only pitched a couple of innings in the last year.

Taking a night off from scoring [I actually ran laps on a track around the field between innings], I have no idea what the final score was...

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Sharon, Jack and I watched June 17, 1994. This is the fifteenth installment of ESPN's 30 for 30 film series.

The film looks at the events of surrounding O.J. Simpson leading America on a slow speed chase in a white Ford Bronco across Los Angeles. On June 17, 1994, Arnold Palmer played his last round at the U.S. Open in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. The FIFA World Cup kicked off in Chicago. The Rangers celebrated winning the Stanley Cup with a ticker tape parade on Broadway. Patrick Ewing and the Knicks faced Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets in a critical game 5 of the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden with the series tied 2 to 2. Yet all of these events were sideshows to the press conferences in L.A., the search for O.J. and the resulting slow speed chase.

The documentary is done in a very unique way. Unlike the other 30 for 30 films, it includes no narration or interviews. It relies soley on actual footage from the day strung together as if you were watching the events unfold. The film includes two other unique aspects. First, it overlays recordings of the 911 calls with Al Cowlings and O.J. on to scenes of the Bronco; I do not believe that I have heard these recordings before. Second, it includes outtakes of Costa and Brokaw trying to figure out how to cover the story before they go on camera.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Seeded second after Saturday's pool games, the Outlaws played the Rohnert Park Red team in the first game. Sunday's games were single elimination.

At the plate, Jack was 3 for 4 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. In his first at-bat, Jack grounded a 0 and 2 pitch to the shortstop and was thrown out at first. Jack lined the first pitch to the fence in right center for a double in his second plate appearance. He drove in Cooper and Niko. He went to third on a passed ball and scored on Jeremy's sacrifice fly to center. In his third at-bat, Jack lined a 0 and 1 pitch into left center for a single to lead off the fourth inning. He went to second on a passed ball and then stole third. Jack scored on Jeremy's single to left.

With the Outlaws trailing 9 to 8 in the bottom of the fifth, Jack came to bat with two outs and Niko on first. Niko stole second and moved to third on a balk. Jack crushed a 0 and 1 pitch into left center for a double. Niko scored to tie the game. Jeremy then hit a grounder to the right side that the second baseman misplayed. Never slowing down, Jack scored from second to make the score 10 to 9. The umpire called the game due to time limits.

In the field, Jack played two innings in center field, two innings at third and an inning in left field. He had two put-outs on fly balls to center field in the second innning.

In more than a little bit of an adventure, the Outlaws won the game by the score of 10 to 9 in five innings. Jack had a RBI to tie the game and scored the winning game!

The Outlaws played Elk Grove South in the second game of the day.

At the plate, Jack was 2 for 3 with two doubles, a RBI and a run scored. In his first at-bat, Jack drove a 1 and 2 pitch to right center for a double. Niko scored from second. Jack went to third on an error by the third baseman on Josh's grounder and than scored from third as Josh went to second. Jack crushed a 1 and 0 pitch into right center for a ground rule double in his second plate appearance. The inning ended with him still at second. In his third at-bat, Jack hit the first pitch for a high fly ball into center field for an out.

Jack has been working out with a coach who has told him to pick the ball up out of the pitcher's hand. Jack told me after the game that the pitch that he crushed for a ground rule double was a knuckle curve that he saw as the pitcher released it.

In the field, Jack played third base for 4 2/3 innings and center field for 1 /3 innings. He had one put-out and two assists. He had two grounders at third that he handled and made the throw to first for the out. One of the grounders was a soft, slow roller up the line. Keeping his composure, Jack charged it and threw a one hopper to Breyton for the out. He also had put-out on a throw from the shortstop to tag out a runner going from second to third.

Leading 2 to 1 in the top of the fifth with two outs, the Outlaws let the lead off batter for Elk Grove South on base with a dropped third strike. The next batter lined one into left field and then the third batter hit his second home run of the game. The Outlaws ended up losing by the score of 4 to 2.

For Sunday, Jack was 5 for 7 with four doubles, four RBIs and four runs scored!

For the weekend, Jack was 8 for 13 with one walk, no strike-outs, 5 runs scored and 6 RBIs.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

The next three weeks are going to include lots of baseball. The Laguna Youth Baseball 11U All Stars are scheduled to play in the pre-state tournament this weekend, a tournament at Mather next week and then the week long Northern California Tournament starting on July 2. The Outlaws played Woodland in the first game of the pre-state tournament.

At the plate, Jack was 2 for 3 with a double, a run scored and a RBI. In his first at-bat, Jack grounded a 1 and 2 pitch to the shortstop and was thrown out at first. Jack hit a 1 and 1 pitch down the first base line for a double in his second plate appearance. He went to third on Jeremy's grounder and error by the third baseman. He scored on a balk by the pitcher. In his third plate appearance, Jack drove a 0 and 1 pitch into right center for a single. He was thrown out trying to steal second.

In the field, Jack played five innings at third base and one inning in centerfield. He had one assist. Jack fielded a grounder and made a nice throw to first for the out. In the first inning, there was a soft pop-up between Jack at third and Niko on the mound. The ball ended up dropping between them. I did not charge either of them with an error.

The Outlaws scored one run in the third, one run in the fourth, two runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to win by the score of 7 to 0.

In the second game of the day, the Outlaws played Buchanan. The Buchanan team is from Clovis and is a team that the Outlaws might only see in the regional tournament in Utah if they got that far...

At the plate, Jack was 1 for 3 with walk and the game winning RBI. In his first at-bat, Jack walked on five pitches. He went to second on a passed ball and to third on a walk to Breyton. He ended the inning at third base. Jack grounded a 1 and 1 pitch to the second baseman in his second plate appearance and was thrown out at first. In his third at-bat, Jack grounded a 1 and 1 pitch to the shortstop and was thrown out at first.

With the score tied 9 to 9 in the bottom of the fifth, Jack came to bat with Niko on second and James on third and one out. He blooped the first pitch in short right field. The right fielder made a nice attempt to make a running shoe top catch, but the ball bounced away. James scored what ended up being the game winning run from third. Jack went to second on the throw home. He went to third on ground out to the pitcher and ended the inning there.

Jack played four innings at third base and two innings at first base. He had three put-outs and one assist. In the top of the first, he made a great play on a slow roller up the third base line. He charged the ball, picked it clean, glanced at the runner going from second to third and threw a strike to first for the out. In the top of the second, he easily handled a high pop-up on the third base line for the out. At first, Jack had two put-outs on throws from the pitcher and third baseman.

As I have noted in the last couple of weeks, Jack has figured out that he can cover a lot more ground than he thought. In the second inning, Jack went far to his left in front of Niko for a grounder. He got to the ball, but as he was bringing the ball up, it came out of his glove. Talking to him about the play after the game, Jack actually said that going to his left for a grounder is his signature play!?!

The Outlaws starting pitcher walked two and gave up three hits to the first five batters. By the time the Outlaws got out of the top of the first, they were behind 4 to 0. Niko hit a three run homer in the bottom of the second to tie the score at 4 to 4.

In a seesaw battle, the Outlaws won the game by a score of 11 to 9. They ended the day seeded second out of nine teams and will play the Rohnert Park Red Team at noon on Sunday. The games on Sunday are single elimination.

Friday, June 18, 2010

In May, I finished reading The Help. In the space of a couple months earlier in the year, both Sharon and Larkin had separately recommended the book to me. The owner of a bed and breakfast in New Orleans had recommended the book to Larkin, while Becky had recommended the book to Sharon.

The Help is the story of African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. The novel is told from the perspective of three characters: Aibileen, a middle aged African American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny, an African American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs, and; Skeeter, a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared.

The book is a fascinating and unique look at race relations in the deep south. It is well written and nicely paced. I highly recommend it.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

This marker is located on State Route 57 at the foot of the old Kingsbury Grade south of Genoa, Douglas County, Nevada. There are 17 other historical markers in Douglas County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 38° 57.930 W 119° 50.390.

Dagget Pass Trail, named for C.D. Dagget, who acquired land at its foot in 1854, was earlier called Georgetown Trail. Replaced in 1860 by the wagon road built by Kingsbury and McDonald, for which they received a Territorial Franchise in 1861, it shortened the distance between Sacramento and Virginia City by 15 miles.
The road cost $585,000. Toll receipts were $190,000 in 1863. Heavy eastward travel occurred in 1860 to 1868. The toll for a wagon and four horses was $17.50 round trip from Shingle Springs, California, to Henry Van Sickle's station near the foot of the grade. Van Sickle, who helped finance the road, eventually acquired it and sold it to Douglas County in 1889 for $1000.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

After the TOC awards ceremony, kayaking and Jack's orientation for the Jesuit summer program on Saturday, we had Sharon's brothers' families [Tom, Becky, Kevin, Eric, Tim, Kathy, Eileen and a friend of Eileen's] over for hamburgers.

After dinner, everyone went bowling at Strikes. Typically, I can steadily improve my score over the course of the evening. After bowling a 103 in the first game, I slipped to 102 in the second game. Getting a little frustrated with myself, I bore down and bowled a 168 in the third game.

I am pretty sure that 168 is my personal best for a single game.

My three game score of 373 ended up the highest of the group for the evening.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Saturday morning, Jack and I went to the Laguna Youth Baseball TOC League Champions and Runner Ups Ceremony. Jack's team, the Angels, got their runner up trophies. Jack did not go happily; he would have preferred to be almost anywhere else in the world than getting a second place trophy. As part of the presentation, the league president noted that the coach of Marlins [Greg Logoteta] had coached three straight TOC Champions...

Friday, June 11, 2010

From 2001 to 2006, Sharon and I played in the SHSS IT Golf Tournament five times with Donna and Kevin Gainsley (2006, 2005, 2004). In 2003, Sharon was serving as a wedding coordinator and I played with Kevin, Donna and Jayne Wong.

The tournament is a charity fund raiser for the hospitals. In 2007 and 2009, I was asked to play with vendors who made a contribution. I missed the 2009 tournament due to our Alaskan vacation.

Given the state of the economy, they had trouble getting vendors to contribute this year. I ended up being able to put together my own foursome at the last minute. Shooting out a number of e-mails on Monday, I ended getting the Kevin and Donna plus Jayne back to play together.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Angels played the seventh game of the Laguna Youth Baseball Major Tournament of Champions. They played the Marlins for the championship of the Laguna Youth Baseball Major division. This is the third time in four days that the two teams have met. The Angels lost to the Marlin by score of 6 to 2 in 8 innings on Monday in the fourth game of the TOC and beat the Marlins by the score of 3 to 0 on Wednesday in the sixth game of the TOC. The Angels had also beaten the Marlins by the score of 5 to 1 in May during the regular season.

At the plate, Jack was 0 for 1 with a strike-out and two walks. After Greysen singled to lead off the game, Jack walked on seven pitches against Bolton to put runners at first and second with no outs. After Dominic struck out, Greysen and Jack advanced to third and second on a wild pitch with one out. Unfortunately, they ended the inning there. Jack struck out swinging against Pat on four pitches in his second plate appearance. Jack lead off the top of the sixth with a walk. Dominic followed with a walk. Unfortunately, the Angels could not get the runners home. The game ended with Jack as the tying run standing on third.

In the field, Jack played four innings at third base. He handled the ball only once. In the bottom of the first, Austin caught Pat's fly ball in right and threw a strike to Jack at third to get the runner who had tagged up and tried to advance.

In the first, fourth and sixth innings, the Angels had runners at third base with no outs or one out, but were not able to get the runner home. In the fifth inning, the Angels had the bases loaded with no outs and only scored one run. The Angels lost game by a score of 2 to 1. The box score is here and the game log is here.

This game marks the end of the Laguna Youth Baseball 2010 season. Jack will start practicing with the LYB 11U All-Star team on Sunday. This team will play in three tournament over the next month, including the week long Northern California Cal Ripken Tournament starting the July 2.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

The Angels played the sixth game of the Laguna Youth Baseball Major Tournament of Champions. They played the Marlins. The Angels had beaten the Marlins by the score of 5 to 1 in May and lost to the Marlin by score of 6 to 2 in 8 innings on Monday in the fourth game of the TOC.

At bat, Jack was 2 for 2 with a walk. In his first at-bat against Bolton, Jack walked on five pitches. Jack stole second. With Niko on third and Jack on second and one out, Dominic struck out and Ben popped up to end the inning. In his second plate appearance, Jack drove a 1 and 1 pitch into right center off Pat for a single. Wesley who played with Jack on the LYB 10U All Star team last year and on the flag football team last fall was playing centerfield and made a great attempt to get to the ball. Jack stole second and went to third on Dominic's single. He ended the inning at third base. In his third at-bat against Geno, Jack hit a 0 and 2 pitch into right field for single. He went to second on a wild pitch, but ended the inning there.

As I have said about the last few games, I think that last couple of weeks is the best that I have ever seen Jack play defensively. He played five innings at third base. He had two put-outs and three assists. In the third inning, he handled a grounder to the left side and made a nice throw to first for the out. In the fourth inning with runners on first and second with one out, the Marlins' clean-up hitter (Bolton) came to the plate. Bolton hit a shot right at Jack's feet. It took Jack a second to find the handle, but he collected the ball and stepped on third for the second out. On the way home in the car, Jack claimed that ball was hit so hard that you could still see the threads of the ball embossed on the glove. On the next pitch, Pat tried to steal third. Niko threw a strike to Jack covering third and Jack tagged Pat out to end the inning. In both the fifth and sixth innings, Jack handled ground balls to the left side and made throws to second to get the lead runner and as Scott said "kill the big inning."

With Anthony and Cobie on base, Breyton crushed a double to left field off of Matthew for two RBIs. It was an extremely windy day. I think that if the wind had not been blowing in from the outfield that Breyton's hit might have been out for a home run.

The Angels won the game by the score of 3 to 0. The box score is here and the game log is here.

The Angels and Marlins now each have one loss in the double elimination Tournament of Champions. They will play the rubber match tomorrow night to determine the Major division championship.

In January of 2000, Sharon and I sold the house in Shingle Springs and started the process of building the house in Elk Grove. Over a three plus month period, I took pictures of the house as it was built.

Breaking out of a two game slump, Jack was 2 for 2 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. In his first at-bat, Jack walked on 6 pitches against Wilburn. He went to second on Dominic's walk. Jack tried to score from second on Anthony's infield out, but was called out at the plate. I was sitting against the fence behind home plate keeping score. Jack was safe; the catcher never came close to tagging him. We had the same set of umpires on Monday and Tuesday night and they were just not very good... Jack pushed a 0 and 2 pitch to the left side against Wilburn in his second plate appearance. With the shortstop playing deep and the Giant's third baseman fairly immobile, Jack was safe at first and Zach came home from third to score before anyone could even get to the ball. Jack moved to third on Dominic's double and scored on an infield error against Morales. In his third at-bat, Jack drove a 1 and 1 pitch back through the pitcher's mound into centerfield for a single to drive in Niko. Jack and Dominic scored on an error by the shortstop.

In the field, Jack played three innings at third base. In the first inning, Jack took a throw from Cobie to tag out Espinosa trying to steal third. In fourth, a ball was hit to the left side of the infield. Jack ranged farther to his left than I think I have ever seen him go. He fielded the ball cleanly, but as he was taking it out of his glove, he bobbled it. Jack regained control of the ball and threw a bullet to first, but the runner was called safe on a very close play. I charged Jack with an error.

With the Angels leading 8 to 1 with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Breyton singled into left center to drive in Anthony and then Austin doubled down the first base line to drive in Cobie and Breyton. With the Angels leading by the score 11 to 1, the game ended. There is a 10 run rule after 5 innings. The box score is here and the game log is here.

The Angels still only have one loss in the double elimination Tournament of Champions. They now have to turn around and play the Marlins again on Wednesday night in the championship game. If they lose, the Marlins win the tournament. If the Angels win on Wednesday night, they will have to play the Marlins again on Thursday night.

Monday, June 07, 2010

The Angels played the fourth game of the Laguna Youth Baseball Major Tournament of Champions. They played the Marlins. The Angels had beaten the Marlins by the score of 5 to 1 in May.

In the field, Jack played seven innings at third base. The last couple of games probably represent the best stretch that I have ever seen Jack play defensively. He had two assists and two put-outs in the game. In the third inning, Jack backhanded a hard grounder down the third base line on one knee, spun completely around and threw a strike to the first baseman for an out. It was a beautiful play. He fielded another grounder in the fourth and made the throw to first for the out. Jack tagged out a runner trying to steal third in the fifth. In the eighth, Niko caught a pop-up at short and threw to Jack at third to double off the runner and end the inning.

As well as Jack has played in the field, he has struggled at the plate over the last two games. He is mired in a 0 for 7 slump. Jack went 0 for 4 against the Marlins. I cannot remember a game where he has gone 0 for 4. In his first at-bat, Jack struck out looking on a 2 and 2 count against Bolton. He popped a 1 and 0 pitch to shortstop in his second plate appearance against Pat. In his at-bat, Jack grounded a 0 and 1 pitch to the second baseman against Bolton. Greysen was tagged out going to second and Jack was forced at first for the double play. Jack popped a 0 and 1 pitch behind first base in last fourth plate appearance against Matthew. The second baseman made a nice running, sliding catch for the out.

With the score tied 1 to 1 in the top of the eighth, the Angels went to a pitcher who has only pitched 7 innings this season. Four walks, a single and a home run later, the Angels were down by the score of 6 to 1 without getting an out.

Leaving 13 men on base, the Angels lost the game by the score of 6 to 2. The box score is here and the game log is here.

This is the Angels first loss in the double elimination Tournament of Champions. The Angels will play Giants on Tuesday night. The winner of that game will turn around and play the Marlins on Wednesday night.

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Sharon, Jack and I watched Invictus on Saturday night. I rented the film as a HD rental on the AppleTV. Starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, Invictus tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela supported the Springbok Rugby team during the 1995 World Cup as a vehicle for helping to unite South Africa.

We had watched the EPSN 30 for 30 documentary titled The 16th Man in May. It covers the same story. I had really enjoyed the 30 for 30 documentary and was skeptical that the movie would live up to that standard. I was wrong. Invictus is a very good film. The movie does an excellent job of providing a view of the story more from Mandela's view.

I enjoyed Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Roger Ebert makes the point in his review that Freeman has been linked to a number of different screenplays about Mandela for more than 10 years. I was less thrilled in Matt Damon as François Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks. Pienaar is a much bigger man than Damon. In the documentary footage, he has a much more commanding physical presence than Damon does.

Invictus is a short Victorian poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley. While I found the 30 for 30 documentary more powerful, I recommend both The 16th Man and Invictus. They are a nice compliment to each other.

Saturday, June 05, 2010

The Angels played the third game of the Laguna Youth Baseball Major Tournament of Champions. They played the Blue Jays. The Angels had beaten the Blue Jays by the score of 9 to 2 on May 8 and lost to them by the score of 9 to 8 in seven innings in the last regular season game on May 26. As I have noted before, there are lots and lots of connections between the coaches and players on these two teams; it makes the game an interesting dance.

In the field, Jack played five innings at third base. He made a number of very nice plays. In the top of the first, the Angels scored two runs on two hits and an error. In the bottom of the first, the lead off batter Cooper hit a hard one hopper to Jack's left. Jack initially caught it, but it popped out of his glove. When Jack bobbled the ball, I was sure that Cooper was going to be safe. Cooper is the fastest player on the Outlaws and was batting from the left side of the plate. Jack maintained his composure, regained control of the ball and threw a strike to get Cooper at first. I believe that play was significant to the game. I honestly believe that if Cooper gets on base with no outs that he ends up scoring. Additionally, I think that Niko [the Angel's pitcher] gets a little rattled by the play and having to work to hold Cooper. Potentially, the game plays out much different if Jack does not make that play. When Cooper walked to lead off the fourth, he scored the Blue Jay's only run.

Jack has also figured out in the last part of the rec season that as he has gotten bigger he can range farther to his left at third base than he thought. He has started to go aggressively after grounders hit between third base and shortstop. In the fifth inning, he ranged far to his left and fielded two infield grounders and threw strikes to first for the out.

There are probably a number of contributing factors, but this was Jack's worst game of the year at the plate. He struck out on three pitches from Josh in his first at-bat. Jack ran the count to 3 and 2 in this second at-bat. He was stealing the pitching signs from Scott [the other team's coach] and forced them to change signs. He eventually struck out on a pitch that looked like ball four from Josh. Josh struck out 7 batters over the first four innings. In his last at-bat against Jordan, he hit a rocket right at Josh at third for the out.

Leading 2 to 1 in the top of the fifth, the Angels finally got to Josh; Josh ended up throwing 99 pitches. After a single and a fielder's choice scored one run, two walks loaded the bases. The Angels 12th hitter then blooped one into right center for two RBIs. Niko followed with his second triple of the year driving in two more runs.

The Angels won the game by the score of 7 to 1. The box score is here and the game log is here.

By the end of the day on Saturday, there were only four teams left in the Major Tournament of Champions: the Angels, Marlins, Giants and D-Backs. The Angels will play the Marlins on Monday night, while the Giants will play the D-Backs. Given the Angels have not lost a game yet and the tournament is double elimination, they will play at least two more games in the coming week. There is a scenario that the Angels could end up playing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night!

In January of 2000, Sharon and I sold the house in Shingle Springs and started the process of building the house in Elk Grove. Over a three plus month period, I took pictures of the house as it was built.

Friday, June 04, 2010

The Angels played the second game of the Laguna Youth Baseball Major Tournament of Champions. They played the Red Sox. The Angels had beaten the Red Sox by the score of 16 to 6 in the first game of the season in late March and by the score of 15 to 2 in early May.

At the plate, Jack was 2 for 3 with a triple, a hit by pitch, two RBIs and three runs scored. In his first plate appearance against Santos, Jack blooped a 1 and 1 pitch behind first base. The first baseman made a nice running over the shoulder catch for the out. With two out in the third and Niko on third base, Jack crushed a 0 and 2 pitch from Santos over the head of the right fielder to the fence. Jack motored into third for a triple. This is only the second triple of the year for the Angels; Niko had one earlier in the season. Jack scored on Dominic's single. In his third plate appearance, Jack was hit by a 1 and 0 pitch. He scored on a single by Ben. Jack drove a 1 and 0 pitch down the third base line that bounced wildly in foul territory for a single in his fourth plate appearance. Zach scored from third. Jack scored on Anthony's bloop single.

In the field, Jack played three innings at third and one inning at first. At first, Braden made a nice stop on a hard grounder and threw to Jack for the out in the second inning. In the fourth inning at third, Jack made one of the sweetest looking plays of the season. Ranging far to his left in front of Niko on an infield grounder, Jack picked the ball up clean and threw a strike to first base. It was a major league looking play.

After a 1, 2, 3 first inning against Santos, the Angels rolled. The Angels put runs on the board in every inning. The Red Sox ran out of pitching and the Angels won by the score of 19 to 3. The box score is here and the game log is here. The Angels play the Blue Jays on Saturday morning.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

In January of 2000, Sharon and I sold the house in Shingle Springs and started the process of building the house in Elk Grove. Over a three plus month period, I took pictures of the house as it was built.

Mandlebaum & Klauber's Store was located at this site. They were agents for the Pony Express and Wells, Fargo & Co.

The original Pony Express route from April 3, 1860 to May 13, 1860 went from here to Woodfords then over Luther Pass and Johnson Pass (Echo Summit). By May 14, 1860 the Kingsbury grade toll road over Daggett Pass and through Lake Valley was opened to horse traffic and was now used by the Pony Express. It was opened to wagon traffic on August 14, 1860. This new route saved 8.4 miles.

Genoa was always a station site. It was a home station the first five months. This is where riders lived when not in the saddle. On September 1, 1860 Carson City became the new home station. Thomas Flynn was a known Pony Express rider between Genoa and the Carson Sink Station going eastbound.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

The Angels played the first game of the Laguna Youth Baseball Major Tournament of Champions. They played the A's. They lost to the A's by the score of 4 to 2 on May 15 and beat them by the score of 17 to 3 on May 21. Trevor, James and Mak are on the A's and play with Jack on the Outlaws.

I am more than a little frustrated with Jack. He has set what I think is an unrealistic goal to hit a home run over the fence in one of the TOC games. I have not been able to talk him back off this ledge. Jack is putting a lot of pressure on himself and going after the ball very aggressively.

At the plate, Jack was 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, two strike-outs, a RBI and a run scored. In the first at-bat, Jack struck out swinging on three straight curve balls. Niko and Greysen had both hit first pitch fast balls in front of him and the pitcher had no intention of throwing him a fast ball over the plate. Still trying to kill the ball, Jack struck out on a 3 and 2 count in his second plate appearance.

In his third at-bat, Jack crushed a 1 and 1 pitch off of James over the center fielder's head. The ball hit the fence about a foot below the rail. Jack motored into second, but was extremely upset that the ball did not clear the fence. His emotional state set off a catastrophic chain of events. Jack started baiting James by taking a large lead off second; James threw back four or five times to keep him close. On a wild pitch to Dominic, Jack went to third, but kept running. He tried to go all the way home. Jack got tagged out by James by a step. At the time, I was very angry with him. The Angels were only leading by the score of 5 to 2 in the top of the fifth and I felt like Jack's run was important.

Jack walked on five pitches in his fourth plate appearance to drive in a run. Successive walk to Dominic, Breyton and Anthony brought Jack home.

In the field, Jack played six innings at third. He made a nice catch on James' pop-up hit way behind third base in the third inning. Trevor was the next batter and hit a slow roller to the left side. Jack fielded the ball cleanly. Trevor is probably the second fastest player on the Outlaws. With Trevor racing up the line, Jack rushed the throw. He threw a one hopper that Breyton did a fantastic job digging. The field umpire called Trevor safe at first.

With the Angels leading 5 to 3 in the top of the fifth, they blew the game wide open. Sixteen batters came to the plate and the Angels scored 10 runs on 8 walks, 3 hits and 2 errors.

Angels won the game by the score of 15 to 4. The box score is here and the game log is here. The Tournament of Champions is double elimination. The Angels play the Red Sox on Friday night.